Admiring The Sunset
by MelindaTheCavalryMay
Summary: River and The Doctor's kids are bitter rivals and well the parents don't really get along too. If that's not enough someone seems to buy the last donut River likes from her favourite cafe. Alternate Universe. Written for River/Doctor Ficathon on tumblr. Contains a lot of characters from DW.
1. Chapter 1

"Good evening River!" The voice chirped, making River flinch for a moment before a calming smile settled on her face. She looked up to greet the young woman in front of her.

The bright-eyed brunette always seemed to be in a chirpy mood. In the short time River had known her, ever since she moved to Leadworth, there had not been a single day when she'd seen a frown on this young girl's face. There was always a positive aura around this girl that cheered River up on her worst days. Like today.

"Good evening Clara" Smiling at the girl, River walked towards 'her' table. Yes she had a table. She had been a regular at this place for just around 3 months but she already had a place for herself. The best one. Just by the window. One which allowed her to enjoy the solitude. To relax, gather herself before she had to face life again. She liked her place. Even though she spent a little time here that table felt like her zone. The cafe was usually empty around this time yet River preferred to walk over directly to her place.

"What's the matter River ?" Clara asked, setting River's cup of tea in front of her. River was surprised how well Clara knew what she liked. It didn't take long for the girl to acquaint herself with River's choice when it came to how she took her tea. River knew that it was all a part of the job description for Clara yet it felt nice.

"The usual" River huffed. Clara sat in front of her while keeping a good enough look at the counter to make sure not miss out on any customers. Leadworth was a small town. It was nice and comfortable to live here, people knew each other pretty well and this cafe was a favourite around here, so people knew Clara well enough to leave thinking that no one was around to attend to them on seeing an empty counter.

"Don't tell me! Again?" The shock and surprise on Clara's face made River chuckle for a moment and then she nodded confirming the girl's thoughts.

"Wow! I can't believe this. How does this girl get to manage into trouble every other day ?"

"I have no idea Clara" River shook her head in response and added "She is being really tough to handle these days"

"Teenage rebellion phase?" Clara grinned making River smile. It was nice to have someone like Clara around. She wasn't really familiar with the place yet and didn't know a lot of people, so it was nice to have someone to talk too.

"She's going through a phase. Us moving here, leaving our life out there. She's taking time to adjust I guess. She just misses home." River replied.

"She'll come around, but right now I know what you need. Danny's baked fresh batch of cookies, I'll get some for you" Clara got up but stopped when she heard River.

"I wouldn't mind cookies but I'd really kill for a Chocolate-Apple donut"

"I know dear but apparently, you're a tad bit late, the last batch just went out of stock"

"Again?! Is it him. Wait don't tell, it's him again isn't it ?"

Clara nodded trying to stop from laughing.

"What has he got against me ? Every time I want to have them, he manages to come before me and buys the last of the stock. Is he stalking me or what ? How does he even know me ? Who is he?"

"Calm down River" Clara said now almost on the verge of a full blown laughter looking at her friend's current state.

"How can I ? and you should have kept atleast one of those donuts aside for me"

"Oh I promise I did. Danny was at the counter when he came. I had warned Danny to keep one for you incase you come here, but your 'admirer' seemed to be stubborn to buy the last 3 donuts instead of his usual two."

"Admirer" River huffed and added "seems more like enemy. I haven't been here for even 4 months and I already have an enemy and I don't have the faintest idea who he is"

"He seems to be a new guy too. Haven't seen him around much before. You know what ? I'll ask Donna whether she has any idea, she is always up to date with the latest happenings in Leadworth"

"No, let it be. I'd rather not know him, than to find out who he is and go and confront him" River waved her hand refusing.

"Ok. I'll better get back to the counter. Enjoy your tea River and don't worry, Rory would get adjust to Leadworth soon" Clara smiled and left.

River sipped her tea looking out the window hoping that's what happens. Aurora was not a girl who got into trouble much. She was a prankster, she was mischievous and always up to something but she rarely got into trouble. She never had a tough time making friends. Just like her dad but ever since they moved to Leadworth she seemed to have trouble. Getting into unnecessary fights especially with another girl from her school and because of this River and that girl's, Jenny, River reminded herself of that girl's name, father had to meet every other day at the Principal's office. 'The Grey haired Scottish guy with the massive eyebrows' as River thought of Jenny's dad always carried a frown on his face and believed his daughter never caused trouble, and River always came in defence of her daughter. No one got to blame her kid. Never. Thanks to this Mr. Frowny Face and River always had an unpleasant argument whenever they met, which seemed to happen regularly these days at the Principal's office. Today however Martha Jones, Principal of Cole Hill School had warned them both that if their kids didn't resolve their issues soon enough strict action would have to be taken. If only her daughter would tell her what the issue was.

River finished her tea and got up from her table. She'd have to talk to her daughter. Heart to heart conversation. These were the moments when she really missed having John in her life. He always was better at these heart to hearts. Aurora was always her father's daughter. Losing him changed her, changed both of them but River knew that things were gonna be like this. They weren't going to change anytime soon and so she'll have to talk to her daughter, find out what's troubling her and work on them.

She left money on the table and was just about to exit when she heard a voice behind her causing her to stop.

Danny came running up to her carrying a box.

"Here you go River, Rory loves these cookies, will help the kid cheer up" he said handing over the box to River.

"Thank you dear. You're amazing" River smiled warmy at the gesture, opening her purse to pay for the cookies.

"I'm not taking any money River if that's what you're about to do. This is on the house. Rory's now a Leadworth kid and we hate to see one of them sad and Clara will have my head if I make you pay for these"

River laughed "You're an angel Danny. Clara's lucky to have you"

Danny blushed and rubbed the back of his neck "It's really the other way round" He smiled.

River bid goodbye and exited the cafe. It's gonna be a tough dinner time tonight.


	2. Chapter 2

"You've got to open the door at sometime kid. You know I'm not leaving till you do" Jenny heard her dad say for the millionth time that day.

"Go away. I don't wanna talk"

"Well that is entirely up to you. I'll just sit here outside the door. I'm an old man not sure if my feet can take me standing out here for long" Jenny couldn't help but chuckle. Ever since her aunt Amy had called him Old man, he had been sulking about it.

She heard a grumble from outside after which she heard him say in his thick Scottish accent "Ok I'm now reclining against the door, so don't open the door, I'm gonna crash back"

"Don't worry I'm not opening because I don't wanna talk"

"Who says we're gonna talk ? You know I hate talking, it is such a tedious task. No talking."

She knew that man well enough to know immediately when he's lying. She knew the moment she'll open the door he'll barge in and then they'll have to 'talk'. Sometimes a girl just needed time to sit by herself. She was a teenager now and she couldn't talk about everything with him now, he was a wonderful man, a nice guy but there just were moments when she'd preferred staying by herself.

After 5 minutes which seemed almost like a lifetime he said "I'm feeling hungry you know, atleast come for dinner. I won't make you talk, I promise."

He won, Jenny knew it even before she admitted it. She couldn't stay away from her dad for long. He was her weakness, she might stay angry with the whole world for ages but never with him.

Getting up she yanked the door open causing him to fall back with a thud. She swears she didn't expect him to be actually sitting against the door.

"Oww! I told you not to open the door suddenly. What's wrong with that pudding brain of yours ?"

"Who told you to sit leaning by the door when you know this is exactly I'd open the door 'old man'" She grinned knowing that would get to him. It was just the way that they argued. Her dad grinned back in return.

"Wash your hands and come downstairs, I've got dinner ready"

Jenny complied. Washing her hands, she looked at herself in mirror. Her dad always said she looked like her birth parents. She was way too young when they died to remember anything about them but she did have a photograph. She got her eyes from her birth father while the rest pretty much looked like her birth mom. The scottishness in her attitude however came from the man who was downstairs making her dinner. Her dad. It never mattered to her that she was biologically his brother's and not his. He gave her all the love and affection a daughter needed from her father. Sure he was a bit old and extremely grumpy but that was only to the outside world, It's the eyebrows he said and she believed, however she knew well enough what a softie he was.

"Oh my god is that Lasagna ?" She took in the delicious smell as she got down the stairs.

"Does this look like Apple Pie to you ?" She couldn't help but giggle at his scowl. She wondered if people could hear him scowling because it definitely seemed audible.

"Nope. Definitely Lasagna, are you ok ? are you running a fever" She moved ahead to check his temperature with her palm but he swatted it off.

"Ha Ha, very funny, now can we eat please I am hungry"

"You hate Lasagna dad" Pointing her fork towards him, she gave him the expression as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

"Well I do hate it but my darling wee little daughter happens to love it and being the nice, loving and caring father that I am, I decided to make it to cheer her up"

"Does sarcasm help ?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"Wouldn't it be amazing if it did ?" She smiled at the smirk he sent her way.

"but seriously why ?" she wouldn't rest till he admitted it properly.

Huffing he dropped hid fork into the plate.

"You are getting really stubborn"

"Well I am you daughter" She gave him the wide grin she knew would be reciprocated with the full blown smile of his.

"That you are. It's nothing, you had a bad day and Amy said nothing works better than comfort food when your kid's sad and you like Lasagna so here it is"

"Aww daddy! you did this for me" She got up and walked behind his chair and gave him a tight hug wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Stop it, no hugging. I don't hug" She heard him say but could see his lips upturned.

She got back and they started eating. The comfortable silence was nice, dinner time was usually a silent affair in their house, no one spoke much but Jenny knew well enough today was not going to be one of those days.

"Ok, speak up what's bothering you ?" She decided to finally ask.

"Nothing"

"Dad, I can hear you thinking, go ahead ask, let's get this over with"

He got up to clear the table and got to his work.

Loading up the dishwasher he asked "I just, I don't know what's happening with you Jen. Why are you getting into trouble at school these days ? Are you angry with me for some reason ?"

Here's the thing. Her dad had this tad irritating habit of blaming himself if anything went wrong and she had to explain it to him everytime that it wasn't. Let's say this was sort of their 'thing'.

"Come here dad, leave the dishes, it's Friday night, I'll handle the dishes later, it's my day anyway." She patted the place on the couch beside her.

He settled in a few minutes later, the hand towel still in hands as he was wiped them.

She paused the movie they had planned on watching tonight just as it was about to start.

"Dad it is not your fault, I promise and it wasn't mine either" She started fidgeting with the hem of her T-shirt, a clear indication that he wasn't going to completely like what she was about to say.

"Go on .. "

"Well we didn't really get along since she joined the school, not that I don't like her but I don't know, Tony wanted to be her friend and I guess I didn't like it because Tony's just my best friend and I felt jealous, it's ridiculous when I think of it now but anyway that's not the case, today however I .. uh .. I might have .. and the word to be focused on in this is 'might' .. I might have decided to play a prank on Ms. Simmons and that new girl interrupted my plans and that might have made me slightly angry and we might have gotten ourselves into a little fight due to which we might have gotten ourselves into a little trouble with Principal Jones"

"That's a lot of 'might haves' for one confession Jen"

"Sorry"

"Hmm ... what was the prank ?"

She looked up, her eyes bright and the mischief creeping up on her face.

"Well it was the classic mug of paint on the tip of the door prank, Tony was supposed to bring the paint and he did and then that new girl pushed him from behind making the whole paint fall on my top!"

"Why did she do that ?" He asked curious.

"Well she claimed she was trying to save me from being caught. Apparently Principal Jones was coming from the other side of the corridor and she would've spotted Tony so Aurora pushed him aside before she could see him"

"So that means she was trying to save you from trouble ?" Jenny could see the confusion clear on his face.

"Well when you say it like that ... but ... she indirectly did get us into trouble because we did get caught at the end and my favourite top got spoilt"

"But .. she didn't mean to do that did she ?"

Jenna shook her head, guilt clear on her face.

In a low tone as if she was mumbling, he heard her say "that was my favourite top dad, grandma gave it to me" She rested her head on his shoulder.

"Hmm and I'll make sure to have it just like it was before, however I think someone out there might be getting a scolding from her mother because of something she didn't do intentionally"

"Why would she get scolded ?"

"Did you see her mom ? She seems like such a furious woman and that space hair ! Did you even look at that ? The way she glares at me! ME! have you ever seen anyone glare at me ? Like she blames me for whatever causes her to have a bad mood .. as if it's all MY fault! Every time we meet her it feels as if she'd kill me there and then, like all she needed was a blaster or something and she does look like an assassin!" He grumbled but looked up to see his daughter grinning at him widely.

"What ?"

"You are blushing" She replied cheekily and he suddenly touched his cheeks and immediately scratched them when he realised Jenna was noticing him.

"I'm not blushing. I don't blush. It's for earthlings not for time lords like me"

Jenna laughed out at that. It was a thing they did when she was a kid. He would act as if he was a time lord with a spaceship while telling her stories. Fascinating stories of made up planets and species, her favourite however was of the Daleks. The most dangerous enemies of the time lord whose main weapons were a whisk and a plunger. He did have the best ideas.

"Yes yes Mr. Time Lord, I know but you are actually blushing.. Wait a minute! looks like you have a crush old man!" Jenny's grin grew wider.

He coughed out saying "No I don't. Why would I have a crush and that too on HER! You heard what I said, she looks dangerous, an assassin!"

"Well you did call her kid a monster child dad! Obviously she wanted to kill you here and then but what matters here is that you should have seen your face when you described her daddy dearest! Remember that book you were crazy about ? umm .. Melody Malone! yeah.. when Amy asked you about your obsession with that woman and you described her .. that is the face you had on when you spoke about Aurora's mom" She winked.

He groaned, having a teenage daughter was not easy. At all. Okay, he might've have called the kid a monster child but it wasn't his fault, he was always grumpy, half the time he didn't even know why he said what he said.

"How did you even know about that book ? You're not supposed to know that! you are spending way too much of time with Amy!"

"You're not denying dad" she winked.

"Of course I'm denying it, this is me denying it. I DENY IT. There, happy ? I don't have any sort of ridiculous crush on anyone and especially not on that woman and anyway she's someone's mom! I'm not supposed to have crush on anyone's mother! that's horrible."

"Well if it helps you she's single" before he could ask she added "Donna, she knows everything about everyone here and she's their neighbour, she told Amy and Tony heard and he told me .. so yeah you get the idea" she shrugged.

"Oh my god! What is it with you all ? Does anyone have any privacy left ? You're spoiling Tony too! That poor guy used to be so innocent! Until he became your friend!"

"Ha ha dad, very nice. He's my sidekick, so it's basically his duty to keep me updated with the happenings around here, the bottom line is, she is single and you have a crush old man"

"I do not have a crush and you need to stop spending too much time with those people and concentrate on your studies"

"yeah yeah, I'm 16 dad and a genius kid here dad, don't worry, anyway I know we had movie plans but I am feeling sleepy so I'm off to bed, we still on for tomorrow's outing right ? I need to go to the library for my experiment research"

"What are you working on ?" he asked, grateful that she changed the topic.

"Time Travel" she winked and grinned before getting up to go upstairs back to her room.

Halfway upstairs she halted and said "dad, I uh .. I was wondering if you could take me to Aurora's place in the morning once, it falls on our way to the library, I .. uh .. I'd like to apologise to her for today"

He smiled and nodded. The last thing he wanted was to go to that woman's house but his daughter felt she needed to right something she did wrong and he was no one to refuse.

"and you can meet her again" she winked before running back upstairs.

"I do not want to meet her" he shouted back. He didn't want to meet her, he really didn't but he didn't know why the prospect of meeting her again made his heart flutter for a millisecond but he shook his head. That woman was dangerous and he did not have a crush.

As he walked over to the fridge and took out a box from it the lines describing Melody Malone came to his mind ' she's got ice in her heart and a kiss on he lips and a vulnerable side she keeps well hidden' He knew the 'ice in her heart' was spot on but the rest, well looks like he'd find out with time. Wait! why would he find out ? he didn't want to find out. Nope. Tomorrow he'll take Jenny to her place and let her talk with the kid. He won't even get out of his car.

"The movie is named Alien! I'm sure any extra terrestrial species would take offence on that someday and attack us !" he said to himself eating the donuts he bought himself today while trying to rid his mind of the thoughts of Melody Malone or the space haired woman he had met today, again and he might or might not have purposefully bought the last of the donuts he had realised she liked to buy, it's not like he was stalking her but she carried this box on both the times she had come to the Principal's office and she blamed him and he was angry so he might have decided to take revenge from her. He might just leave a bragging note for her the next time he bought the donuts before she could. "That's a lot of might haves for a confession" he grumbled to himself. It's not like anyone really recognised him in the cafe, he never really visited it before he found out the 'space haired woman' liked it. He wasn't really a fan of meeting people. Amy and Donna complained about that, but he was happy here, he had friends and he had Jenny, that was more than enough.


	3. Chapter 3

"Rory what have you done to my music player ?" River asked turning around to look at her daughter who was sitting cross legged in the garden, completely engrossed in her book.

Rory had always been an avid reader. She could spend hours in the library. She loved book ever since she was a kid. John loved books too but River believed the obsession her daughter had for reading came from her. Yesterday night they had a long discussion. River realised that Rory wasn't really at fault during yesterday's incident. She wanted to protect Anthony. Apparently Anthony or 'Tony' as Rory had called him was another kid at her school who was eager to be her friend and Rory liked having him around. River however believed that wasn't the only reason. Her daughter was an amazing prankster, the last thing she could bear was someone being caught during a prank and she just wanted to help. Not that River approved such thing, oh! who was she kidding ? River was secretly pretty proud about how good her daughter could be, but being the mom she had to tell Aurora not to get into trouble and resolve her issues with Jenny once they were back to school. Rory had agreed, they had dinner and then watched Star Wars for the umpteenth time. Her daughter loved the franchise and River (though she wouldn't admit openly) had always carried a crush on a certain smuggler in the movie. Thing were fine between them.

"Oh My God mom! That's an ipod not a music player! Which era are you still stuck in ?" Aurora groaned.

"Well I am an Archaeologist" River began but was cut off before she could finish.

"Yes yes, I know, I know .. anyway what's wrong ? It was working fine the last time I borrowed it"

"Well dear when you borrowed it, you weren't supposed to replace all my songs! I can find any of my playlists!"

"Oh mom, you have a horrendous taste in music, you should hear more cool stuff, I promise you'll love the songs I added and before you argue, I added some songs, not replace your old ones, keep the playlist on shuffle and you'll find them" She got up and left into the house before River could respond.

"Teenagers" River huffed and plugged in her headphones and started listening. She took hold of the garden hose and started watering the grass and the flowerbeds. Though she was a bit apprehensive about the playlist Aurora had added to her 'Ipod' she realised she did like a few songs. River had always been more of a Jazz or Blues fan. They were classic. Melodious and with feeling. John didn't have any particular favourite, he just needed music he could dance ridiculously too. She chuckled at that memory. He wasn't a huge fan of slow dancing but River was. They had danced to "Can't help falling in love" on their wedding, John was a clumsy slow dancer but in that moment nothing had felt better, even though he did step in her toes quite few times. She had laughed later when John got to do his giraffe dance, he was such a kid.

River was swaying to the song that was playing not noticing things happening around her.

She did not notice a car than came to a halt outside their gate.

"Dad, you sure you don't want to come in ? You can meet her" Jenny winked and her dad rolled his eyes.

"You go in and talk and come out as quickly as you can, I don't want to waste the whole day sitting out here, leave Tony in the car we could chat for a few minutes till you come back"

Jenny noticed the freaked out expression on Tony's face. Being stuck with your best friend's dad in the car was not a good idea.

"No dad, Tony is gonna come with me, it'll be easy to talk to Aurora with Tony around, she likes him" Jenny shrugged not noticing the slight blush that bloomed up on Tony's face at that.

"ok, go go and here, take this for them" he handed over a parcel to his daughter.

"You bought your favourite donuts for her ?" Jenny winked.

It looks like those are her favourite too he wanted to say but just grumbled.

"Anyway just be here dad we'll be back soon" saying this Jenny and Tony were off to meet the new girl.

He knew that Tony would come along with them for the visit to the library, Jenny and Tony were obviously teaming up on the project. He should've just asked Amy to take them but he knew better than to leave Jenny and Amy alone and Jenny telling Amy about the space haired woman who he definitely did not have a crush on.

River was busy watering the plants when she heard the gate to her lawn open. She turned around to see Jenny and a lean, brown haired boy with an extremely pale complexion. She shut off the hose and looked at them.

"Hello!" Jenny said coming to her and putting her hand forward to shake her hand. River was surprised, The girl did seem feisty. Pretty much like her own daughter.

"Hello dear" River smiled. She looked up at the kid who looked really nervous. Like a boy who had to ask the permission of a girl's mom before taking the girl out for prom.

"and you must be Anthony" River said going ahead to shake his hand.

"Yes I must be... I mean yes I am" he fumbled, his cheeks immediately reddening at his blunder.

River laughed and shook his hand saying "You're just like Rory mentioned"

He looked up surprised and said "You know my dad?"

River was confused at this reaction "sorry ?"

"Umm .. you mentioned Rory, my dad's name is Rory"

"Oh!" River laughed at that and then clarified "no dear, I meant Aurora, her nickname's Rory"

"Really ?" he asked eyes wide. River noticed how green his eyes were.

"Well I should know dear she is my daughter"

"oh .. no I mean .. I mean .. umm .. she talked about me ?" He asked face reddening again.

River couldn't help but smile, looked like someone had a little crush on her daughter. How sweet was that ? John would've been so furious. When Aurora was born he had decided that his daughter would not date and married whoever he chose for her. If only he knew.

Jenny interrupted "Umm ... Ms. Song is Aurora home ?, we'd like to talk to her if possible about ..." she trailed off. She looked like such a sweet child. River tried to imagine her dad with those scary eyebrows, she looked nothing like him though.

"Yes she is and please call me River" She smiled and added "she's in the house go talk to her, resolve your issues" It wasn't tough to guess they had come here for the same. Poor child must've gotten a scolding from her dad. That man looked pretty scary. It was definitely those eyebrows. She decided.

Jenny offered the package she was carrying.

"Apple Cinnamon Donuts" she mentioned.

"Oh my favourite!" River exclaimed. Ever since her stalker had been buying the last of the donuts before she could, she hadn't gotten a chance to eat them.

"Is it?" Jenny smiled. Looks like there was a story behind her dad buying these donuts so frequently, she thought it was because her dad liked it but now realised it was because someone else did.

"Oh yes, but dear I'm a bit busy now, hand them over to Aurora. All the best" she smiled.

Jenny smiled and Anthony followed her. She hoped the kids resolved their issues. They were new here and it would be nice to see Aurora have some friends.

She saw Aurora open the door, speaking to the other kids and then seeking her mom. When River smiled and nodded Aurora invited them in.

River plugged in her headphones back again and started watering her plants. She started swaying a bit to the music humming to the tune playing along. She didn't notice how long had passed and didn't realise the gate to her lawn opening again.

"Wake me up ... before you go go .. na na .. naa na na" she was singing and swaying to the tune.

"Ahem excuse me" he said softly. Pretty amused at the sight before him. The Space haired woman seemed to be lost in her own world. He'd waited for his daughter to come but he was a restless man, couldn't wait long. He was feeling thirsty. So he decided to go in and was suddenly halted by the sight in the lawn.

The space haired woman was dancing to some music. He couldn't hear the song but heard her humming a few words. He saw how she swayed her hips. She was wearing a loose cream top which seemed a bit too large for her and casual track pants. So unlike how he had seen her every time he met her before at Principal Jones' office where she was dressed to perfection. Her red lipstick, her hair combed and tied up, heels and those dresses that she wore. She was beautiful, magnificent even but right now when she was dressed up casually, her hair open and spread like a halo of curls. like corkscrews, he thought she looked enigmatic, like a mystery that was waiting to be solved. Who is she ? It was as if he needed to find out more about her. Even in this casual attire, with her lost in music, swaying to the songs and humming while watering the plants. It was such a domestic sight but such a beautiful one. He broke from the reverie when he heard her hum a bit louder than before.

"Jitterbug .. na na na na .. jitterbug" she was on the verge of dancing. He chuckled at that thought but he was thirsty and he needed to stop her for a moment. He walked up to her.

"Excuse me, ma'am ... Ms. Song ? Excuse .." he was forced to stop when he put his hand on her shoulder and she turned suddenly. The open hose in her hand drenching him wet as the force of the water him and left him soaked completely.

"aargh!" he growled and looked at her. Eyebrows raised and anger clear on his face. She looked shocked for a moment but the shock was replaced with a smirk and then she started laughing. It was a full blown laughter. If he wasn't so angry he would've agreed with his heart which told him that might've been one of the most amazing sounds he had ever heard.

"Are you deaf ?" He grumbled and added "what's wrong with you ? Insane human!" he growled.

"Excuse me ?" She rested her hands on her hips and looked at him with an eyebrow raised as if daring him to repeat what he had said. He was a daring guy and he was not scared of her even though he was pretty sure she looked like an assassin.

"I said Insane Human" He stared back at her.

"What are you then ? An alien and who are you calling insane ? Don't you know better than sneak up on someone like that!"

"Well I didn't have any option because someone was way too busy listening to music at an insane volume"

She stopped for a while there, thinking of an answer. Well he wasn't at fault here really but she wouldn't admit that.

"Well why are you here ?" She asked instead.

He knew he had won that argument since she was changing the topic. He smiled at that.

"Well my daughter is currently meeting your daughter at your house and I was thirsty, I needed a glass of water"

"Well the latter issue has definitely been solved" she let her eyes roam over him and smirked.

"Ha ha .. do tell me, do you really have such a bad sense of comedy ?"

"Oh sweetie were you born this grumpy ?" She plastered a fake smile on her lips.

His heart fluttered on hearing 'sweetie' and he did not know why. Well maybe he did but he didn't want to talk of it. He would admit thought that he liked that term of endearment.

"Well were you born this rude ?" he spat back.

"Someone's a ray of sunshine today" She smirked and added "Come on, let's go in. I'll get you that glass of water."

She walked in and he followed. She opened the door and walked in.

"Should I take off my shoes or .."

"No need, it's fine, unless you want to"

"I would like to" saying this he took of his shoes and socks and placed them aside.

"There are a pair of slippers there if you want" she said and walked into the kitchen.

Hearing the voices, the kids walked into the living room. Jenny was surprised to see her dad there, drenched.

She tried to stifle her laughter but couldn't help and broke into one. Aurora looked like she enjoyed the scene in front of her too. Anthony as the only one who was making a genuine effort at not laughing but he too was struggling.

"What happened dad ?" Jenny asked.

"She happened" he replied pointing towards River who had walked in holding a glass of water.

"Well dear he sneaked up on me" River glared back at him.

"Ohh! Sneaked up on you huh ?"Jenny winked at her dad and looked at Aurora who had a smirk on her face too. Anthony however looked terrorized.

"Oh shut up!" he grumbled and drank the water handing the glass back to River.

"Well are you kids done ?" He asked looking at the kids, moving ahead to shake Aurora's hand.

"Well we are, aren't we Rory ?" Jenny smiled and her dad was surprised at the name she called the other kid and Jenny immediately clarified.

"Dad, her nickname's Rory"

He nodded and said "Well then we better leave now if we have to get to the library"

"Dad, Rory's gonna be coming with us, we needed another member for our team anyway"

He was surprised at that and glanced at River who looked pretty shocked at that too. Apparently he wasn't the only one struggling with moody teens who were arch rivals a moment back and now seemed like pretty good friends.

"Umm if it's ok with you mum ?" Aurora looked at River.

"Umm yes yes dear, whatever you want" River was happy to see the smile on her daughter's face at that. It had been a while since she had seen her smile like this. If working together with Grumpy's daughter and her best friend is what caused this smile then she was ok with that.

"Ok then, I'll drop her back once we're done" Jenny's dad said.

"You're going to go to the library like this ?" River asked surprised.

"Well it's not like I have an option" He spat back.

"Well you can change your clothes if you want sir, mom can find something for you to wear" Aurora chirped in and then looked at River who looked surprised and a bit shocked. Guilt set on Aurora's face once she realised what she had said.

River couldn't see her daughter sad. She hadn't mentioned that intentionally and it really looked like this man could use a different set of clothes.

"Well .. uh .. yes. I don't have a replacement for these magician coats and T-shirts but if it's ok with you I can get you a shirt and a pair of pants, let me warn you they are suspender pants though"

He wanted to laugh at that. Who wore suspender pants ? but he held himself back. The woman looked a bit frazzled at this idea and he didn't want to hurt her.

"Uh ok. If it's fine with you" he turned to Aurora and added "and it's Doctor, you can call me Doctor" Aurora nodded.

Jenny suddenly looked at River and said "umm would you like to come as well?". She had noticed the change in Aurora and River's expression at the mention of an extra set of clothes. She felt maybe Aurora would like it better to have her mother around that be surrounded by 3 strangers.

"If you wouldn't mind ?" River looked at this man. Doctor as he called himself. Who calls himself by a title ?

"Uh yeah sure."

"Ok then, let me get changed and come I'll give you something to change into"

He nodded and followed River.

The kids stayed back.

Anthony moved up to Aurora and asked "You ok ?"

Aurora looked up at him, smiled and nodded.

"Now that you are officially a part of the gang and because I seem to like you ideas regarding how our pranks could get better, I'd like to toast with a donut!" Jenny said and opened the box she had brought in.

"Apple and cinnamon ? They're my mom's favourite" Aurora said smiling.

"I know, my dad's too" Jenny replied and winked to which Aurora winked back.

"Oh my god! it's like the trouble just doubled" Anthony groaned.

"It has my friend, it has"

The three of them started munching on the donuts when they heard laughter from upstairs and heard River say "What kind of a name is that ?"

and then heard The Doctor say "It's better than yours."


	4. Chapter 4

20 Minutes earlier

The last thing Aurora had expected was Jenny and Tony ringing the doorbell to her house. She was in the kitchen, planning to make her mum a cup of tea when she heard the doorbell ring.

She knew her mum was outside and she hadn't locked the door, so her surprise on hearing the doorbell was apparent.

"Mom, the door is open why are you..." her eyes grew wide and mouth left hanging open when she saw who it was on the other side.

"Umm Hi" Jenny smiled and Tony being the utterly shy guy he was just waved his hand.

"Uhh ..." There were very few moments when Aurora found herself unable to utter a word, this seems to be one of them.

"Can we talk ?" Jenny had a nervous smile as she spoke, she was rocking back and forth on her heels with her hands stuffed in her pockets. Aurora moved aside to welcome them in, she looked outside and saw her mum looking at her and then nodding to let her know it's fine.

An awkward silence settled once they entered the house.

"It's a nice home" Tony spoke up first to start the conversation.

"Uhh thanks. It's still a house though, not a home yet, still adjusting to living here"

"Yeah, it takes time when you move to a new place" he responded.

Awkward silence set in again.

"You guys want something to eat or drink ?"

"No no ... here we brought in some donuts" Jenny offered the box in her hands.

"Oh uhh .. thank you" She took the parcel and went into the kitchen to leave it there.

"I'm sorry" Jenny blurted as soon as Aurora entered the living room again.

"Uhh .. Well there's no need to apologise, it's fine" Aurora replied, her dark brown curled swishing as she shook her head.

"No .. I have to. Yesterday wasn't really your fault, it's just .. that dress was very special to me, my grandma gave it to me, so I was a bit taken aback when the paint fell on it."

"Oh!" a flash of guilt crossed Aurora's features. "I'm sorry I didn't know, I should've taken care instead of pushing Tony forward.."

"You were just trying to save him from getting into trouble" Jenny said.

"Yeah and anyways I'm a regular at the Principal's office thanks to this girl here" Tony decided to speak up and said this pointing with his thumb towards Jenny and with a smirk on his face.

"Shut up idiot" Jenny smacked behind his head.

"Ouch! Stop it Yoda" He shouted back.

"I told you do not call me that!" she shouted back. Aurora was pretty sure if she didn't interfere immediately there would be a war happening but this was such an interesting site. She started laughing.

Both Jenny and Tony stopped and looked at her. Jenny would swear she saw a slight blush creep up on Tony's face but she wouldn't say anything. Not now atleast.

"You know if I had seen you two like this on the first day I met you guys, I would've thought you're like twins or something" she calmed down wiping the laughter tears off her cheeks.

"Yeah we both pretty much grew up like twins" Jenny replied and then added "So ready to forgive me ?"

"Well, I am but I need in on the next prank you crack" Aurora smirked. Tony could swear that even though apart from the curls nothing much about Aurora looked like her mum, this smirk was totally her.

"Oh! You have some good ideas do you ?" Jenny's mischievous smile returned. She loved pranks, she was quite a bit of prankster since she was a kid, Tony was a good partner but he got worried easily, she would love to have a good partner in crime.

"Well if I said that I was one of the greatest pranksters in my previous school I would not be bragging" Aurora was proud about this fact. Tony realised that he was now stuck with two pranksters! He sighed praying for strength.

"Ahaa! Well then welcome partner" Jenny forwarded her hand to shake and Aurora took it happily.

"Thank you and that reminds how did you get here ?"

"Oh! we were going to the library to research for the science project, so dad let us halt here on the way"

"Oh! he's here ? You should've said! My mom would've asked him in" Aurora smiled. Well to admit her mom was frustrated with Jenny's dad. Always spoke about him in anger and frustration but the thing was that ever since she had met him she was speaking about him, a lot. Aurora was 17, she knew what a crush looked like and though her mom would fight against the notion, she knew her mum subconsciously did like this guy.

"Oh would she ?" Jenny asked a smirk growing on her face and the spark in her eyes told Aurora that even Jenny's dad seemed to like her mum.

"What project are you guys working on ?" She asked instead.

"Science through history. Developments in the fields of science since the earliest recorded history, what about you ?" Tony asked.

"Oh! I haven't really thought about yet, I'm pretty new and am yet to find a partner. This other new girl seemed .." Aurora was cut off before she could finish.

"Oh! then join us. We'll need to make a team of 3 anyway" Jenny seemed excited with the idea. She liked having a new friend and it seemed like Aurora was taking time to adjust to the new place and it'll be nice to have another friend other than Tony.

"Thank you, well I think my mom can help us out, she's an Archaeology Professor and her knowledge of history is fab!" Aurora chirped. Looked like she was finally making friends. She wasn't still comfortable with living in Leadworth yet, having spent so many years in another place but she seemed like she enjoyed Jenny and Tony's company. Jenny was fun and Tony was pretty adorable.

"Wow and my dad is like a genius when it comes to Sciences!" Jenny spoke up.

"Well then welcome to Team TARDIS!" Tony added, a huge smile on his face. Yeah her best friend was definitely an idiot, Jenny thought.

"Team Tardis ?" Aurora asked.

Before she could hear the answer they heard voiced coming from the corridor. Her mum was back and along with her it looked like some other man had come in and she had a faint idea who he must be and Jenny's surprised confirmed her doubt.

They moved to the corridor to see Jenny's dad drenched completely.


	5. Chapter 5

He followed her as she led the way to wherever she was taking him. He noticed their house wasn't really huge but at the same time not really tiny. It was perfect in way. There was this sense of warmth in the house, a sense of coziness. According to what his daughter had told him, the space haired lady stayed with her daughter. Just the two of them, the way he and Jenny were. Maybe that was the reason this house felt cozy even if he hadn't been there for more than 10 minutes.

"Please wait here, I'll get you something to wear" Leaving him waiting outside the door, River went into a room which he guessed might've been her bedroom.

It was an awkward sight to say the least with him standing outside her room, completely drenched while the kids were waiting downstairs. To add to his troubles, the space haired woman was going to join them and come along to the library and he refused to admit the thought excited him.  
He didn't mind solitude, he prefered to spend time all by himself whenever he got the chance but with Jenny around and Amy living just the next door, it was a pretty impossible task. He could've just borrowed a book and read while Jenny and Anthony worked on their project but now with Aurora joining them, he would have to spend time with the space haired woman. She didn't seem like she herself was eager to talk to him so maybe it'll be fine. It was not like they were enemies but they weren't friends and he was totally not thrilled at the idea of her being his friend. Nope. Just the parent whose kid was working along with his kid. That's it.  
Then why was he feeling nervous ? He didn't do nervous. He never got nervous. Well he was a dad, so there were moments where he was excited and nervous for his little girl but otherwise he never was, never until today. The thought of spending time with this woman made his stomach grumble and restless. Like he wanted her to think he was good company. Maybe it was this mysterious aura around her. Behind that smile of her and that sassy attitude, there was another personality that she was hiding. So he felt. He always loved a good puzzle and this woman was one. He assured himself that this was the only reason he was curious about her. Nothing more.

"Umm here you go, I think these will fit you just fine, you're lucky I managed to find pants without suspenders" His thoughts were interrupted when the very same woman who had been occupying them came out with a shirt and a pair of trousers.

He looked up at her and nodded.  
After a few minutes of just standing there he broke the silence saying "Not that I don't mind standing here and not talking, I really need to change before I catch a nasty cold, so if you could lead me to a washroom ?"

"Oh yes! Sorry" She smiled back at him, one thing he realised was that she had a really wonderful smile. It had a sort of calming effect even when she seemed a tad bit flustered as she was currently.

Indicating to the room just opposite hers she said "That's Rory's room, you can go there and change, I better get dressed up as well, Being a parent makes you realise that teenagers have extremely less patience"  
"Don't I know" He responded rolling his eyes. When she wasn't angry or blaming him, she seemed like a decent company but who was he to judge and why did it matter if she was good company or not. Nodding his head he walked into her daughter's room to get rid of the wet clothes and changing into the set of clothes he was just handed.

River on the other hand started searching through her wardrobe for something suitable to wear. It was nice that her daughter was making new friends. Shifting to a new place is tough for kids, especially when they were going through their teenage phase and considering everything that the kid had gone through since the last 2 years, her not falling in love with Leadworth was pretty much expected, but River didn't expect her dislike for Leadworth to last for such a long time. Now that she had friends even though they hadn't started on good terms, River was hopeful that Rory would find Leadworth a good place.  
Her new friend's father however was a whole different issue. River wondered if he had always been this grumpy, it was like the frown was a permanent settlement on that man's Scottishness reminded her of her old friend Amelia. River was startled for a moment when Aurora suggested 'Mr. Eyebrows' could wear John's clothes. That was not something River expected would happen but then the guilt that flashed on her daughter's face broke her heart, the last thing she could see was her daughter sad, so even though it was a tough task, River offered him, John's clothes. It was one of those pairs John rarely wore, so it was fine. Her dork used to love wearing pants with suspenders, matching them with a bow tie and a ridiculous jacket. Idiot. River smiled at that thought. It had stopped hurting to think of John. She wouldn't say she moved on, she was sure she never could but now thinking of him was nice, it made her smile, just the way he always wanted to see her.  
Shaking her head, she pulled on a pair of jeans, and wore a white shirt. Got her socks and shoes on and exited the room to meet 'The Doctor'. Who even calls himself that ?

The Doctor here had finished changing and was holding the wet clothes in his hands wondering what to do with them. He could leave them in the car but it'll just cause more mess. Maybe he could ask the woman if she had any plastic covers or something.

"Here give me those, I'll hang it up to dry, they should be fine by the time we return"

He turned around to see the space haired woman standing by the door. He looked at her. The casual attire she had been wearing earlier had been replaced with 'nice' casual attire. She wore a white shirt and dark blue jeans combined with sneakers and multi coloured socks. He chuckled internally at that. Her hair was tied up but a few strands managed to escape here and there. She looked beautiful. He immediately scolded himself for thinking that. It was because of her that his clothes had been drenched and he was wearing someone else's clothes. The pants were a bit long for him so he had to fold them at the ankles but otherwise they fit fine. That however didn't make him less angry. He was planning to spend a nice fine day at the library and now he was at a stranger's house. He shouldn't have bought her those donuts. Like always he should've kept them for himself, so that she couldn't get a hold of them.  
Putting his frown back in place he looked at her, really looked at her and saw the way she was eyeing him. She was observing him. Looking up and down. If it was someone else he would've gotten angry and scolded them but the look in her eyes however stopped him. He wouldn't say it looked as if she would burst into tears any moment, but there was a certain intensity in those eyes, they had glazed a bit and by the way she was chewing her bottom lip he could realise she was trying to hold back her emotions. Maybe it was these clothes. He had seen the look of horror that passed over her eyes when her daughter had suggested these clothes. Maybe they belonged to her husband. He wondered what had happened to him, how they had lost him, how recent was it. By the way she looked it didn't seem like it had happened long back. When she realised he had noticed her fighting her emotions, she composed herself immediately. He noticed how a mask fell on to her face hiding any hint of sorrow.

Clearing his voice he said "I uhh.. That's fine, give me a plastic bag or something and I'll put these in the car."

"No no. Don't worry. I'll hang them outside to dry and you can collect them on your way back. It's fine"

He nodded "Just let me know where to hang them"

"Okay" She agreed.

She went into the bathroom to bring a basket. She didn't want water dripping around on the carpet he guessed. While she was gone he looked around the kid's room. The walls were painted blue. The darkest of blues, like the TARDIS he thought. The TARDIS even though a figment of his imagination, was a key part of Jenny's growing up. He always imagined the TARDIS in this exact shade of blue. Like any other teenager's room, he saw quite a lot of posters here and there but what caught his eye was the blackboard in one corner of the room filled with various calculations and formulae. If he had the time he'd like to go through them properly. There were lots of books on Astronomy, Space studies and Science scattered on the floor. The kid seemed to have some sort of love for astronomy and space.

"She loves science" the woman came out with a basket and he dropped the clothes in them.

"Yeah I can guess that. Space and Astronomy?"

"Oh yes. She loves the study of stars, space and time. Wants to research about the time space continuum some day"

"Really ? That's an interesting choice for a teenager"

"She's always loved science. She's a bit of a genius when it comes to that subject. Get's it from her father" River smiled proudly. Her daughter was indeed a genius, just like her father.

"Well I'm a bit of a genius myself" The Doctor squared his shoulders, lifted his chin and announced.

"Oh really ?" She raised an eyebrow at that and looked actually surprised.  
He frowned at that. "What ? Don't I look like a genius ?"  
"Sweetie you call yourself as 'The Doctor' and not a name, hard to find you a genius when you do that" She responded with a smile and his heart fluttered once again at the use of the endearment.

"Ha! Well let me tell you I am actually a Doctor. I'm a scientist and the lead the Research wing at The London Science museum for 25 years"

"Wow that is impressive" She smirked.

"What about you ?"

"Oh me ? I am an archaeologist"

He laughed at that and then went on to actually say "Well I point and laugh at archaeologists"

Her eyebrows raised at that and a frown came on her face and she asked "Were you born this grumpy or did you have to work hard at that ?"

He flinched a bit at that. He shouldn't have made fun of her career. That wasn't like him. The fact that he did not want to get into the bad graces of this woman who looked deadly enough that she could kill him with her glare however was a different thing.

"I'm sorry, just a bad start to the day" He grumbled.

Forwarding her hand to his she said "Let's start afresh. Professor River Song, Archaeologist"

"I'm The Doctor"

"The Doctor is not a name sweetie" If she hadn't used that endearment he was growing fond of, he would've snapped at her.

"Well that's what everyone calls me"

"It's ok if you don't want to tell me your real name" She said shaking his hand just for a few seconds before he pulled back. He wasn't really fond of hand holding and touching.

"Basil. Theta Basil" He said.

"Sorry ?" She asked genuinely confused. Her eyebrows knit together.

"That's my name" he huffed.

She laughed out at that.

"What sort of a name is that ? It's a Greek Alphabet and the name of a plant"  
"Well it's certainly better than yours! River Song ? Is that a real name or a fake one ?" He snapped. He didn't like when someone made fun of his name. He agreed it was a tad bit unconventional but it was still his name.

Stifling her laughter she calmed down and said "Sorry, my fault I shouldn't have laughed. You made fun of my profession and I made fun of your name. I think we're even" She winked and left the room. He stood there stunned for a moment.

No one winked at him. It wasn't acceptable and this woman, this ridiculous space haired woman made fun of his name, didn't really apologise and then winked at him and left. Oh she was going to be tough to handle. Luckily he might not have to meet her again after today. With Jenny and Aurora having resolved their issues they might not end up at the Principal's room every now and then, so after today him meeting River Song was next to impossible.  
The thought however did not make him as happy as he thought it would. Grumbling to himself he left the room to follow River. River Song. Atleast he knew her name now.


End file.
